The present application relates to an information processing apparatus and method, a communication apparatus and method, and an information processing system. More particularly, the invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, a communication apparatus and method, and an information processing system which are advantageous for constructing, for example, an electronic money system utilizing contactless communication techniques.
In the related art, contactless IC cards such as FeliCa (a registered trademark) cards and mobile telephones incorporating an IC chip having functions equivalent to those of contactless IC cards are available, and electronic money systems are operated utilizing such cards or mobile telephones (for example, see JP-A-2004-102726 (Patent Document 1)).
FIG. 1 shows an exemplary configuration of an electronic money system in operation. An electronic money system 1 is formed by IC cards 2 which are possessed by purchasers of commodities, store terminals 3 provided at stores where the commodities are sold, and a server 5 connected to the store terminals 3 connected through a communication line 4.
A credit value (a prepaid amount of money) is recorded in advance in an IC card 2. When the card is brought into a predetermined range from a reader/writer 13 of a store terminal 3, settlement information is communicated between the card and the reader/writer 13 on a contactless basis.
The store terminal 3 includes a control section 11, an input section 12, the reader/writer 13, and sale information database (DB) 14. The control section 11 controls information reading and writing carried out by the reader/writer 13 to record sale information in the sale information database 14. The control section 11 also transmits recorded sale information to the server 5 which is connected to the section through the communication line 4. The input section 12 advises the control section 11 of the price of a commodity input by a salesperson. The reader/writer 13 communicates with the IC card 2 on a contactless basis.
The server 5 is installed at, for example, the company providing the electronic money service. The server accumulates sale information supplied from each store terminal 3 and calculates money received (the amount of commodities sold) at each store based on sale information thus accumulated during each predetermined period.
When a purchaser purchases a commodity, the price of the commodity is input to the input section 12 by a salesperson of the store, and the IC card 2 is brought into close proximity to the reader/writer 13 by the purchaser. Thus, communication is started between the reader/writer 13 and the IC card 2 to enable a mutual authentication process. When the mutual authentication process has successful results, a credit value is read out from the IC card 2 by the reader/writer 13 and advised to the control section 11. At the control section 11, the price of the commodity input from the input section 12 is subtracted from the credit value of the IC card 2 thus read out, and the amount subtracted is advised to the reader/writer 13 to cause it to write the result of subtraction in the IC card 2. The control section 11 also causes a record of this sale to be stored in the sales record database 14. Sales records stored in the sales record database 14 are advised to the server 5 at predetermined timing (e.g., once a day at the closing times of the stores) and accumulated at the server. The server 5 calculates the amount of money received at each store based on sales records thus accumulated.